Thursday, October 17, 2013

The Eggstone Murders: A Starfire Mystery by Herbert L. Smith Review and Givaway

Book Details:
The Eggstone Murders: A Starfire Mystery
Genre: Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Published by: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Release Date: July 13, 2013
Number of Pages: 218

Synopsis
A thick-headed sheriff, a young, unsure, wannabe detective, and a savvy older criminal-turned- investigator, are only the beginning of the cast of characters included in this story of small-town life in southwestern Iowa, set in 1953. Meet them on the streets of Hillville, at the town square, or at a big-business farm nearby. They all have a story to tell, and some of them have a few things to hide. Others have quite a few.

Enjoy the storms, the intrigues, and the mid-western hospitality –including the wonderful food – of Hillville, Iowa, as its down-to-earth folk work their way through the dailyness of their quiet lives.

There are the murders, of course, which cause dismay, but the con-man turned detective, Guy, is able to resolve them, after a few hard bumps, and the guilty are punished – or, as is sometimes Guy’s choice, forgiven.
As a whole, it’s a pleasant outing on an Iowa summer’s day.

About The Author

Herb Smith was born and raised in ‘Hillville,’ Iowa, a town situated close to Omaha, across the mighty Missouri River and a few miles south. He lived there until he was a young adult, and gradually made his way out into the rest of the world from that unique beginning.

He has lived and worked on four continents and many different countries, and has crisscrossed the Atlantic more times than he wants to remember. (The trip was fun for the first few times. After that it was more painful.)

His books include: Cairo, The Mother Of The World, Crossing Borders, The Great Sphinx Of Amun-Ra, Songs Of Saints And Angels, The Names Of The Days – A Novel Of Egypt’s 2011 Revolution, and other, as-yet-unpublished, Starfire Mystery stories.

He is a musician and composer, teacher, and reader. All those things add up to a lifetime of books, music, and looking into a computer screen.

He and his wife, Glenda, live in Eugene, Oregon, where they retired several years ago.

My Review: The Eggstone Murders: A Starfire Mystery

3 1/2 STARS

I kept debating on how many stars. This is not your typical cozy mystery. The main character sometimes I like and others do not. In fact their are a lot of charactes that I really did not like. The plots had some nice twists in it. I would have liked a little more interaction with key players outside the main mystery.

Guy LeFevre is a crook. He decides to retire to a small town so he disappeared and landed as Guy. He embezzled a lot of money. He decides to invest in a young mans dream of owning his own detective agency. He ends up helping him with his cases.

Caleb Starfire drives people around as a taxi service. He decides he needs another job so he wants to become a detective. He read a book a few times and magazine. Caleb swears a lot. It was bothering me. It was the same word and didn't even make sense sometimes how he was using it. It also bothered Guy.

Caleb first case is actually a embezzler case and he gets Guy to help him. Guy does and he understands bookkeeping more than Caleb.

The next case is a murder with lots of suspects. Lots of other crimes comes out. The Sheriff likes one suspect but Guy is leaning toward another. Caleb does not think the pretty woman can be the guilty ones. Their are a lot of secrets in the quiet little town that Guy moves too.

I like best the little scenes in Guys boarding house with other members of the house. Wish their was a little more of them.
I also like out at the farm the scenes with the cook that break up the heavy scenes.

I think my main problem is I did not agree with a lot of the choices Guy made. That I did not see much of a better side of him. At least not enough to care about any of the characters.

I would like to see where this series might go to next. It is a fast read.
I was given this ebook to read and in return asked to give honest review and be part of its book tour.

GIVEAWAY: 1 ebook of Eggstone Murders by Herbert L. Smith

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About Me

I am 52 a Disabled widow of 2 young women.
My oldest got married this year. She will be graduating with a B.A. of Science summer 2015.
My baby is a senior at U of U she keeps changing majors.
Summer of 2015 have had health issues more, car problems and spent most time away from home.
I have read a lot of books in my past. Just gave away a couple of pickup loads of books.
Love ebooks for the fact easy to store. I am always having to charge my kindles.
Hate the fact can only loan some ebooks and then only one time.
Still have book cases in almost every room. Over six still in my bedroom.
Read at least one book a day.
Love clean reads. Hate too much sex scenes and details and swearing in books.
Love stories that I can get lost in. good dialog, interesting characters that I care about. love Romance, westerns, mysteries, fantasy, science fiction, YA, children, Amish fiction, Christian, LDS and other books.
We are a family who love to read. I grew up reading we had to my last name was Reid.